Scotland v South Africa: Joe Ansbro faces a baptism of fire as late change forced on Scots

Published on Friday 19 November 2010 18:49

THE trial nature of Scotland's EMC Autumn Test series has shifted into another gear with a last-minute call-up for another debutant in Joe Ansbro yesterday.

• Joe Ansbro warms up for the team's training session at Murrayfield. Ansbro was a late addition to the team after Max Evans failed to recover sufficiently from his shoulder injury Picture: SNS

The 25-year-old Northampton centre/winger has been handed a daunting Test debut against South Africa this afternoon, when he will face Francois Steyn in the midfield, after Glasgow centre Max Evans failed to recover fully from the shoulder injury he suffered at the end of the opening Test match with the All Blacks. Ansbro becomes the third debutant of the series and the fourth change to last week's side.

Scotland coach Andy Robinson spoke yesterday of how it was "not ideal" to have to make a change so late in the week, however he revealed that it was smooth as could be, as injuries to centres over the past two weeks had Ansbro, a player Robinson has admired since first handing him an 'A' cap in Romania in 2009, training at outside centre.

Scotland team doctor James Robson said: "Max is improving all the time and the hope and expectation is that he will be available for selection for next weekend's international against Samoa. However, it was felt with the player's welfare of paramount importance that he was not quite ready for the rigours of a Test match tomorrow."

Robinson echoed that, stating that Evans might have been "about 90 percent fit", but that that was not enough for a Test match of this intensity. The head coach was asked whether he felt Ansbro was ready, having started only a handful of games for Northampton this season, and he inevitably responded positively. He and assistants Gregor Townsend and Graham Steadman have real faith in the player, a strong, muscular centre with pace that very few Scottish backs possess.

"We need someone at 100 per cent and Joe is a talented footballer," Robinson said. "We have been monitoring his progress at Northampton closely and he has been getting regular game time this season, off the bench and starting recently.

"We believe he has the required qualities to perform in international rugby. He has some pace and runs hard onto the ball. He has defended very well and makes good decisions. He will be well tested in that centre position, but I believe he will withstand that and also be able to establish a go-forward for us."

It is believed that Ansbro will be the first black player to ever win a full Scotland cap in rugby, and Robinson said that it was a significant moment in the history of Scottish rugby.

"Joe is like another player. He is a lovely lad and great lad to work with. Obviously, with history it is a common belief he is the first black player to play and that is a huge honour for him."

What is more important for Robinson, however, is how quickly Ansbro and the three other changes made to the side that lost last week, Nikki Walker, Scott MacLeod and Nathan Hines, pick up the Test-match pace and intensity in their first international of the season against a team on its third Test in three weeks, which undoubtedly was a factor in Scotland's poor first-half display against the All Blacks.

Hines and Walker have a half under their belt, and the key to this game will be Scotland's ability to stay with the Boks to half-time, by which stage the entire Scotland team should be as close as they will get to the demands of top-class Test rugby.

The keys lie, as ever, in the ability of the Scottish set-piece to contain a Bok scrum and lineout, and outsmart it at times; to be more accurate and dynamic in the rucks; to defend much better than last week; to play the game in the South African half of the field much more; and to attack with more longevity, more phases and consistency, with more composure and conviction - not always an easy twosome to display - when the half-chances rear their head and real scoring opportunities are made.

New Zealand were sublime last week, but Scotland were awful. Forget the nice words from All Blacks coach Graham Henry and his captain Richie McCaw, from coach Peter de Villiers and the Springboks this week. They are looking after themselves, keeping feet on the ground after two early tour wins in preparation for the potential Grand Slam denouements, the greatest risk to which they believe is complacency.

If South Africa play to their optimum Scotland will again be dealt a harsh lesson of the difference between the top two and seventh in the world, but if Scotland play the game the way they want to and have some early successes, enough to rock the visitors, they have a chance, albeit in what will be a more confrontational and potentially explosive encounter at Murrayfield.

While New Zealand develop from a desire to play open, running rugby, and then take on the set-piece and tighter work with the enthusiasm of a child being force-fed sprouts, South Africa are working to embrace the new fluid style demanded with the change in ruck interpretation, but from their traditional base of immense physicality.

Teams rarely fit snugly into their stereotype and so as the Boks build a squad ready to defend the World Cup in New Zealand next year they are working hard on developing a game that is both brutal in the set-piece and contact, with locks Bakkies Botha and Victor Matfield and flanker Juan Smith at its core, but also fast and innately skilful on the front foot, with Ryan Kankowski, the No 8, a great modern-day forward. It is no surprise to learn that these Boks are averaging 27 points per game under Peter de Villiers.

Morne Steyn is a kicking stand-off, and the best in the world at the moment, who ensures that teams rarely enjoy long spells in the Bok half and are swiftly punished for giving away penalties. But he is learning how to release a back line and with Jean de Villiers and Francois Steyn - both very capable, rounded players - outside him, and a back three of keen runners, they have a back division full of enterprise.

Scotland have spoken about improving their kicking game and know they need to test that back three, particularly debutant Lwasi Mvovo, but that is only worthwhile if the team is giving its fair share in the contact and chasing hard and forcing errors. Scotland's wins over Ireland and Argentina were and will remain great triumphs against the odds, but as we said last week they were not at a level to worry the southern hemisphere teams in their current form.

Key to this game is getting over the gain-line, and the introduction of Walker's physicality to the wing can provide another weapon. He and Sean Lamont have to be more integral figures in Scotland's game than was the case with Sean and Rory Lamont last weekend, but as deserving as they were of criticism the failure of the players inside to generate momentum remains the most concerning hurdle to the side's efforts to perform. MacLeod and Hines should bring more nous and ambition to the Scotland pack, while the team as a whole will probably need more bodies in rucks to retain ball this week than was the case against the All Blacks and not try to swing from one extreme to the other. They need to be clever.

Scotland will look for space against a side as physical as the Springboks, as that is the game that they are developing under Robinson - drive for space and when caught look to off-load - but that is not always possible within the confines of a rugby pitch, when the contact is brutal, so Scotland have to be more imposing, fighting and scrapping to take ball forward, knees pumping high, and refusing to give it up until Scottish hands are in support.

Robinson knows the size of the challenge that awaits his side, and rather than indulge in platitudes about how they have said the right things in the build-up, he acknowledged that it was actions in the first 20 minutes that would either inspire or deflate his side.

He said: "We need to show belief by having the correct mindset in defence, show toughness in the way we knock down the South Africans, show accuracy at the set-piece and look after the ball and make good decision with ball in hand.

"Rugby is a decision-making, physical game and we have to stand toe-to-toe against a team like South Africa. We also have to have the skills to play through teams and that is where our decision-making will be vital. We need a better balance between running and kicking. We are not playing New Zealand. This is a new game and we have to establish a foothold."

And with more than a hint of understatement, he added: "It will be a tough Test match."

How they line up at Murrayfield

SCOTLAND

15 Hugo Southwell (St Francais) 55 caps

14 Nikki Walker (Ospreys) 16

13 Joe Ansbro (Northampton) 0

12 Graeme Morrison (Glasgow) 26

11 Sean Lamont (Scarlets) 48

10 Dan Parks (Cardiff Blues) 54

9 Rory Lawson (capt) (Gloucester) 20

1 Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh) 48

2 Ross Ford (Edinburgh) 41

3 Euan Murray (Northampton) 33

4 Scott MacLeod (Edinburgh) 22

5 Richie Gray (Glasgow) 4

6 Nathan Hines (Leinster) 65

7 John Barclay (Glasgow) 21

8 Kelly Brown (Saracens) 38

Substitutes

16 Dougie Hall (Glasgow) 31

17 Moray Low (Glasgow) 8

18 Richie Vernon (Glasgow) 4

19 Ross Rennie (Edinburgh) 2

20 Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh) 1

21 Ruaridh Jackson (Glasgow) 1

22 Chris Paterson (Edinburgh) 100

SOUTH AFRICA

15 Zane Kirchner (Bulls)12 caps

14 Gio Aplon (Stormers)11

13 Frans Steyn (Racing Metro)40

12 Jean de Villiers (Stormers)65

11 Lwasi Mvovo (Sharks)0

10 Morne Steyn (Bulls)23

9 Francois Hougaard (Bulls)6

1 Tendai Mtawarira (Sharks)24

2 Bismarck du Plessis (Sharks)34

3 Jannie du Plessis (Sharks)22

4 Bakkies Botha (Bulls)70

5 Victor Matfield (capt) (Bulls)103

6 D Stegmann (Bulls)2

7 Juan Smith (Cheetahs)67

8 Ryan Kankowski (Sharks)16

Substitutes

16 Adriaan Strauss (Cheetahs)7

17 CJ van der Linde (Cheetahs)67

18 Flip van der Merwe (Bulls)8

19 Willem Alberts (Sharks)1

20 Ruan Pienaar (Ulster)45

21 Patrick Lambie (Sharks)2

22 Adrian Jacobs (Sharks)31

EMC Autumn International Test Today at Murrayfield, kick-off 2.30pm

Live on BBC2